Cian snorted. “Like we’re leaving our king alone.”
I gritted my teeth and leaned closer, resting my forearms on the table. “I was doing battle when ye were still in your da’s bullocks, Cian.”
Odhran tipped his head back and roared out his laughter.
After holding my gaze for a second, Cian grunted and lifted his mug to toss back the rest of his ale. He gestured for another, any tension now forgotten.
“Stubborn arseholes,” I clipped out.
“Look who we are around all the time,” Odhran said and grinned, lifting his mug at me in a salute.
Both males had been tossing back copious amounts of ale since we’d arrived, so much so that I was pretty sure they’d pass out as soon as they got back to the inn.
I stood, unable to sit still any longer. “I’m done here,” I murmured, and both males nodded, pushing their empty food platters away, finishing off their drinks, then standing as well.
“Aye,” Cian said. “I think we are too. Starting tae see double.”
Odhran barked out a laugh and stood as well.
I stepped out of the tavern, Cian and Odhran stumbling out behind me. “Head back tae the inn and sleep that shite off,” I murmured as I looked around. “I need tae walk, tae clear my head.” The air was still all around me.
“Ye’ll be okay?” Cian asked, coughing to try and clear his throat of the slurred tone he now had.
“Did ye really ask me that?” I looked over at Cian with a gritted jaw.
“Ye want us tae walk with ye? No’ like we canna use the fresh air,” Odhran grumbled, his voice even more slurred than Cian’s, clearly oblivious to the irritation I felt.
“I’m fooking fine,” I all but growled in annoyance. “Ye two can barely speak straight let alone walk.” I scrubbed a hand over my face and exhaled, the scruff on my cheeks and jaw growing thick from the days of not being able to shave.
After only a moment of both males trying to convince me they were fine, they finally conceded and left, making their way in the opposite direction.
I watched them round the corner of a small cottage before I started making my way forward, inhaling deeply and picking up the scent of unwashed animals and humans, the sweet scent of fruits, fresh aroma of cut vegetables, and a muskiness in the air of a couple having sex nearby.
The truth was I didn’t need to walk to clear my head. I needed this walk to find her. Because I knew that’s what this feeling was in me, this restless energy. It was my wolf pacing and snarling, digging his claws into my body and reminding me that he was alpha, he was dominant.
It was time to find our mate.
And so I walked the tiny muddy roads of the village, going down every alley and every hidden, shadowy corner all in the hopes that I’d feel that intensity even more that she was near.
And although I still felt that she was someone here, I wanted to know what my mate smelled like. I wanted to see her with my own eyes, touch her with my callused, too-big fingers.
I rounded the corner, seeing a man astride a horse, a wagon being pulled behind. He inclined his head in my direction in greeting, and as soon as he passed, the wind picked up, and I froze, my feet stalling, my senses rising violently to the surface.
I smelled her.
Mine! Mine! Mineminemine!
She was Otherworld. Vampire. Her scent so sweet that my wolf went crazy. My feet moved on their own record, and I tipped my head back, inhaling deeply. I followed the scent like an invisible tether tied me to it irrevocably.
I found myself in front of a small cottage, her scent all around it. I followed the scent around the side of the cottage to a lone window at the front of the home.
I placed my hands on either side of the frame, my nails—now claws—digging into the wood, the sound of them gouging out chunks barely penetrating the low pumping sound of my instinct that filled my ears.
Growling surrounded me, and I knew it came from me, growing louder and louder. Everything inside of me said to go inside, to turn everything over and find where she hid from me.
But as I inhaled a deep breath again, letting reality fade back into me, I realized her scent was dissipated. She wasn’t inside, hadn’t been for quite some time.
But still I didn’t move, my eyes closed, my head now resting against the pane as I kept inhaling deeply, taking in as much of her scent as I could. I canna get enough.
My heart was thundering, my cock stiff. I wanted my mate, I needed to get to her, claim her, spread her thighs and rut between them like the wild beast I was.